Clergy's Anti-gambling Drive Falls Short

Armed with petitions, the power of the pulpit and the principle of community control, church leaders in dozens of suburbs orchestrated a grand plan to fight the expansion of gambling in Illinois.

They would get gambling questions on ballots in the March election in at least 100 communities, the leaders announced with much fanfare.

Voters would be on record as demanding a say before any gambling venture could be placed in their town, they argued.

But when the deadline for filing referendum petitions passed Monday, the ministers did not announce that their efforts fell far short of their goals in most communities where petition drives were launched, including Arlington Heights, Palatine, Skokie, Tinley Park, Waukegan, Wheaton and Wilmette, to name a few. Church leaders simply failed to come up with enough signatures to get referendum proposals on the ballot in most communities.

Rev. Tom Grey, the statewide anti-gambling leader for the Illinois Methodist Church, said the referendum drives were thwarted both by church leaders' inexperience in dealing with grass-roots politics and a public that appears more concerned with violence and education than with the gambling issue.

"People don't see (gambling) as a threat until it hits their community," Grey said. "I think if we went out on the gun control issue . . . we would have gotten the signatures."

With the failure of most of their efforts, anti-gambling activists are now scrambling to salvage part of the campaign by pleading directly with local elected officials to place referendum proposals on the March ballot.

A number of Methodist ministers have either appeared before local municipal boards or have scheduled meetings to make their last-minute pitch.

In home rule municipalities, boards and councils can vote to get the gambling proposal on the ballot, if they act before a Jan. 10 deadline, officials said.

The Palatine Village Board passed such a measure Tuesday night, saying that should a gambling proposal ever come before the community, residents should have the power to decide.

"Gambling would be a great impact to the community," said Palatine Village President Rita Mullins. "It's controversial. I think we would have asked people anyway."

In Wheaton, church officials lobbied the City Council, but were turned down for the March ballot. But City Council members encouraged them to continue collecting signatures so the referendum could be placed on the November ballot.

In Alsip, church members, who didn't even try a petition campaign, asked the Village Board to consider a referendum. The board is scheduled to vote on the issue Monday.

Clergy members in Tinley Park and Arlington Heights have yet to decide whether to approach village officials.

And if those requests are turned down, new petition drives will be launched to get the question on the November ballot, they said.

The referendum drive was fueled by concerns that the state legislature this spring would expand the Illinois riverboat gambling act or introduce new forms of gambling as part of a deal to give Chicago riverboat casinos.

The referendum question is: "Should citizens be given the right to vote by municipal referendum prior to the introduction or expansion of gambling within this municipality, including riverboats, betting parlors, video terminals and slot machines?"

In effect, it is a referendum calling for future referendums, Grey and other ministers explained.

"It would have been more exciting if we could have gotten the 3,000 signatures we needed," conceded Rev. Bill Bryan of the First United Methodist Church of Palatine. "But ministers aren't accustomed to functioning in the public arena in this fashion."

Another factor was an apparent cynicism on the gambling issue by residents, he said.

"There are some people who feel (that gambling) is an inevitable thing because of government financial problems," he said. "So even people who don't like it think it can't be stopped."

Paul Doocey, a senior writer for Gaming and Wagering Business, a New York-based gambling industry magazine, said anti-gambling efforts may be hindered by the fact that gambling already exists in Illinois.

"People have seen it, and they know that the old bug-a-boo about crime is just not true," Doocey said. "So people look at Joliet, Alton, and they say, `Why can't we have that?' "

"There are most definitely anti-gaming forces throughout the country," he added, noting that Indiana voters in three counties voted against gambling proposals in binding referendums. "But as communities see how (gambling ventures) are established, they all want a piece of the pie."

That was true in Elgin and West Dundee-two communities that voted in favor of riverboat gambling proposals in referendums earlier this year.

But over the last two years, voters in Jo Davies County, Massac County, Antioch and Rolling Meadows have voted against the proliferation of gambling in their communities.

In the latest drives, organizers in at least three communities said they were successful in gathering enough signatures on referendum petitions.

Voters in Palos Heights, Lake Bluff and Marengo may ponder the issue in March.

Grey said he is hoping to get the issue on the ballot this spring in another 30 to 40 communities.

"All we're saying is people ought to have the right to vote, and these gambling ventures should come in through the front door," Grey said. "Can't we determine whether we want gambling in our communities?"